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Summer Picnic & Barbecue Planning Guide – Part 1 of 5

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Summer picnic and barbecue - planning your menu

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

As I sit in a comfortable air-conditioned room writing this post, my outside garden is feeling the full weight of the summer heat.

It’s hot this week, and my kids are ready to meet friends for another visit to the water park to cool off.

In keeping our home comfortable and enjoying visits with friends, summer picnics and backyard barbeques win my choice for summer entertainment.

A summer picnic and barbecue with friends does not need all the bells and whistles. You do not need a Martha Stewart centerpiece nor spend hours preparing for some outdoor fun.

To share my simple strategy for a summer picnic and backyard barbecue, I will cover the following topics in this 5-part planning series:

Summer Picnic and Barbecue Planning Guide

Part 1: Planning the Menu

Part 2: Distributing the Responsibilities

Part 3: Creating an Inviting Space

Part 4: Keeping Refrigerated Dishes Cold

Part 5: Enlisting Cleanup Helpers

Part 1: Planning the Menu

When planning a summer picnic or barbecue, I start with these 3 broad food topics to choose the menu:

1. Meat (choose 1-3 types)

      • Hamburgers
      • Hot Dogs
      • Bratwurst
      • Chicken
      • Beef
      • Shrimp

2. Sides (add 2-5 options)

      • Salads: green, pasta, potato, etc.
      • Corn on the cob
      • Veggie cups or tray
      • Fruit tray
      • Deviled eggs
      • Mac and cheese
      • Chips

3. Dessert (top off with 1-2 choices)

      • Watermelon
      • Strawberry shortcake
      • Homemade ice cream
      • Apple pie
      • Brownies

With the menu decided, I then create a list with all the items needed at the picnic. This list would include condiments, sauces, dips, buns, paper products, and beverages.

Knowing the big picture helps me answer questions and distribute the responsibilities evenly, coming in Part 2 of this 5-part series.

As you endure the summer heat, consider hanging out with friends at a summer picnic or backyard barbecue hosted at your home or at a local park. To begin this adventure, start planning your menu and look for a free evening on your calendar to host your summer bash. I’ll walk you through the process. It’s painless, I promise. 😉  Happy planning!

Question: What foods do you enjoy serving for a summer picnic or backyard barbecue?

Beat the Summer Heat: Bake at Night and Oven-free Meals

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Beating the summer heat - oven-free options

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

The temperatures here in South Carolina have dropped to the high 80s. The “cooler” weather is a welcome change from the low 100s we have experienced already. In using time wisely to feed my family, these two solutions beat the summer heat.

Bake at Night

With the cooler temperatures in the evening, I bake before going to bed. This way, I escape upstairs to bed while the heat dissipates downstairs. Also, the heat from the oven does not seem to warm up the house as much at night as it does at dinner time.

Create Oven-free Meals

Using a crock pot, the grill, and stove to create meals minimizes the amount of heat needed to feed my family. I also like the free printable oven-free menu options from Penny at MeetPenny.com for June and July. Sometimes viewing someone else’s menu jump starts my creativity when planning our summer meals.

By baking at night and creating oven-free meals, my family can enjoy dinner without extra heat. In planning and using time wisely, you can save money, energy, and time while feeding your family. Stay cool!

Question: How are you beating the summer heat?

Menu Planning: A Week’s Worth of Cool Meals

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On the way to church Sunday evening, our family drove through a hail storm. Paul tried to find cover at a gas station, but other drivers had the same idea. Since we could not find shelter, we continued through the storm. The kids were excited at first, but then the marble-sized hail began bouncing off the car. The sound was really loud, and I asked for silence. They sat still until we passed to the other side of the storm.

Though another hail storm might occur, I am still watching and anticipating rain showers. Usually after rain showers, the temperature drops a few degrees. With temperatures in the 90s, this summer heat has s-l-o-w-e-d me down. I get tired easily and unmotivated. Thankfully, my stockpile in my pantry has kept my family fed during my drought of energy.

Other than 2 quick stops at Aldi for milk, bread, eggs, sugar, and other staples, I have not couponed or visited a grocery store or drugstore in about 3 weeks. For those of you who have been purchasing sale items at your rock bottom price and creating or updating your pricing list, please inspire me with the deals you have found.

In the meantime, here’s a week’s worth of meals to feed your family without turning on the oven and heating up your house:

  1. Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill with chips and cold pasta salad
  2. Spaghetti with green salad
  3. Breakfast items – eggs with ham, sausage, or bacon and hash browns
  4. Taco salad – my son’s favorite meal (at the moment) 🙂
  5. Quesadillas with salad and corn
  6. One dish dinners – tonight I mixed penne pasta, spaghetti sauce, and ricotta cheese together. My kids wolfed it down. Of course, they were STARVING for a snack upon returning home from church. 🙂
  7. Pork chops in the crock pot – I am planning to make the chops and allow them to cook in the crock pot outside tomorrow. I think I will place the crock pot in the garage. The heat can remain out of the house while our dinner simmers.

What about you? What meals are you making while keeping the heat out your kitchen? Please inspire me with your ideas and your great coupon deals.

Waiting or Working?

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When my hubby arrived home and played with the kids, I took the opportunity to work on dinner alone. I put the pot on the stove and had some time to wait for the water to boil. During this time, I would have sat down to rest, if needed. But on this day, I needed to get my kitchen in order. Here is what I was able to accomplish while making dinner:

  1. Unloaded the dishwasher,
  2. Reloaded the dishwasher,
  3. Wiped down the counters,
  4. Finished my menu plan for the week, and
  5. Wrote out my grocery list.

At the end of the 25-30 minutes, I had a clean kitchen, menu plan, grocery list, and dinner made. After dinner, I was able to play with the kids while hubby graciously cleaned up the kitchen. Using the little chunks of time during the day to accomplish small tasks adds up to extra time spent doing what I enjoy – playing with my kids. What can you accomplish while waiting for water to boil?

Organizing Dinner with Friends – Part 1

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If your family is like ours, then you enjoy entertaining friends for dinner. My children often beg to have their friends over to play. To accommodate their desire to play and our wish for an enjoyable evening, we invite friends with children over for dinner. To save me time, energy, and money, I follow a six-step checklist that helps me in planning our evenings of entertainment. Here are the first 2 steps in my 6-step checklist:

STEP 1:  Choose a date that works with my schedule.

Since our children stay up late and are so wound up after spending 2-3 hours with their friends, we usually entertain on Friday evening. They can then stay up past their bedtime to settle down, and they can sleep later on Saturday morning. Also, our house is often in disarray due to all the toys getting rearranged. We need Saturday morning to get our house back in order.

STEP 2:  Choose my menu.

I tend to choose the menu before inviting our friends. Almost always, our friends ask what they can bring to help with the meal. By already having the menu planned, I can suggest one of the side items. If I did not have my menu planned, then I would need to spend time and energy calling or e-mailing to get that information to them. To simplify the process, I choose to plan the menu before sending invitations. Here is a sample menu:

  • Baked ham
  • Mashed potatoes and gravy or scalloped potatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Corn
  • Applesauce
  • Bread
  • Chocolate cupcakes with icing

Entertaining can be lots of fun. By having a list to execute, I have found excitement in planning while avoiding the anxiety of possibly forgetting something. Next Tuesday I will continue this explanation with steps 3 and 4 of my entertainment checklist.